Coondoo swings both ways.

The Merida X-Fusion 6hr was held on the weekend at one of SCUM's most popular locations. The Coondoo track had been reinvigorated by the organisational team and trail fairies. There were new sections of single track, power-line and fire trail and some sections of original Coondoo to be ridden in reverse. There was a rock garden which would be walked by an occasional competitor and downhill fire trail with water-bars screaming out air-time. The compulsory Coondoo log-rollovers were in there as well as a reversed section from the quarry to the wooden bridge becoming a sweet sandy switchback ascent.
Solos started separate from the teams and gained a four minute advantage via a shortcut through to the second quarter of the eleven kilometer track. Although the track was well bunted and signposted, there was a small mix-up with one reversed section but the remaining five hours and fifty minutes was without incident. The local Rural Fire Brigade volunteers were at hand to provide checkpoints around the track with their 4x4 vehicles and radios.
My race went well for the first half, the lead riders had scurried off into the distance and I was keeping a solid pace. Another Sydney based rider on his ss was riding with me and we were working well through the track. There was plenty of fun on the track, pushing the bike ,tyres and myself as far as we could go. Big air off water-bars, rollovers and plenty of fast switchbacks. Finding and connecting faster, smoother lines through new or reversed track. Or just letting it loose in front of the timing crew.
Around midday things changed, I lost focus and failed to negotiate a sandy corner, coming unstuck and lightly grazing my forearm. From this incident I found I was lacking the same power as before, my legs felt heavy, I was in the hurt locker. I lost contact with the ss rider and limped back through the remaining track to the transition to fuel up. It has been a very long time since I had felt this bad and I think nutrition was to blame. I may have skipped some food during the race so far and put myself in energy debt. I have found FRS works best with good nutrition, it was my mistake.
Over the next lap and a half it was all about recovery from the flat spell and bring my energy levels back up with a mixture of high and medium GI carbs. My legs began to feel better and I was able to settle into the usual enduro pace. At this point I wasn’t sure how much time I had lost during the flat spell to the ss rider.
Riding the loop for the last time, the clock passed the six hour, Mark from Canberra caught up with me. In fact I caught up with quite a few people over the event, there was a certain casual, festive vibe through out the event center and out on track. It was a great event by the organisers, a BBQ, cake stall, bike repairs, games and quizzes. Maybe just ease up with the Dave time on the microphone. Well done to the event organisers and all the volunteers for a fun ride.
All up it turns out I didn’t loose to much time to the ss rider and went on to place 7th by minutes. My Canaan worked flawlessly and I had no mechanical issues. The X-Fusion Velvet fork I have on the Canaan is well suited to enduros and trail riding. Bring on more fun enduros SCUM.
A big thanks to Tracy and Hally for their hospitality over the weekend. Also to Kev for his time behind the lens.